Basketball – The Daily Evergreen

Franks signs contract with Charlotte Hornets

KATIE ARCHER, Evergreen sports editor

July 11, 2019

Men’s basketball forward Robert Franks Jr. signed a two-way contract with the Charlotte Hornets, announced Mitch Kupchak, manager and president of basketball operations for the team. Franks was an undrafted free agent and playing with the Hornets in the NBA Summer League. He has played a total of...

Jeff Pollard decides to stay at WSU

DYLAN GREENE, Evergreen deputy sports editor

April 9, 2019

WSU men's basketball forward Jeff Pollard will return to the Cougars for his senior season after testing the waters by putting his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Pollard made the announcement in a post on Twitter Tuesday. In the tweet, Pollard explained his reasoning for putting his name in the...

Athlete of the Week: Klay Thompson

SHAWN P. O'CONNOR, Evergreen columnist

April 9, 2019

WSU Athletics announced last week that it will retire WSU alumnus Klay Thompson’s No. 1 jersey. Klay played three seasons for Tony Bennett at WSU before being selected No. 11 overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 2011 NBA Draft. He has since become one of the NBA’s best shooting guards and...

Kyle Smith ushers in new era of WSU men’s basketball

JOHN SPELLMAN, Evergreen reporter

April 1, 2019

Monday signaled a new era for the WSU men’s basketball program as Kyle Smith was officially welcomed to the WSU community after he was formally introduced with a press conference as the new head coach of the men’s basketball team. After the Cougars parted ways with former head coach Ernie Kent,...

Kyle Smith receives 6 year contract to become men’s basketball head coach

DYLAN GREENE, Evergreen deputy sports editor

March 27, 2019

University of San Francisco's Kyle Smith has agreed to a six year contract to become WSU's next men's basketball head coach and will be paid $1.4 million annually. Smith will be formerly introduced during a press conference Monday. "We set a goal of finding the best head coach for Washington State...

Reports: San Francisco’s Kyle Smith expected to be named men’s basketball head coach

DYLAN GREENE, Evergreen deputy sports editor

March 26, 2019

University of San Francisco's Kyle Smith is expected to be named the next WSU men's basketball head coach, according to CBS Sports. Smith has coached the Dons for the past three seasons and lead them to 20 or more wins each year including a 21-10 record in 2018-19. The head coaching position became...

Cougs should look at bridge for coaching woes

ALEX BIVIANO, Evergreen columnist

March 26, 2019

The end of the Ernie Kent era has spread joy across campus as WSU men’s basketball finally has a chance to compete in the Pac-12 now that it is headed in a new direction. Kent was holding WSU back, especially given his enormous salary. WSU expected a top-tier coach but received an overpaid underpe...

Carter Skaggs enters name into NCAA transfer portal

DYLAN GREENE, Evergreen deputy sports editor

March 20, 2019

WSU men's basketball guard Carter Skaggs announced on Twitter today that he has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. In the tweet, Skaggs said he plans on graduating from WSU and using his last year of eligibility to play at a different university. "I will always cherish the moments...

Started from the bottom now he’s here

MAGGIE QUINLAN, Evergreen reporter

March 19, 2019

Growing up, the odds were stacked against Isaiah Wade but he persevered and carved out a path for himself through basketball. Wade was born and raised in Minneapolis. He became homeless in the fourth grade and he said he didn’t get to have a childhood. Wade didn’t find a way out of his situation...

Cougs battle Beavs in Beasley

LEXI MCGONEGLE, Evergreen reporter

March 8, 2019

WSU men’s basketball is set to finish its last game of the regular season against Oregon State on Saturday in Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars (11-19, 4-13) come into this matchup against the Beavers (17-12, 9-8) after they suffered a 72-61 loss against Oregon on Wednesday night. Currently on a...

Cal knocks out WSU in first round of Pac-12 tourney

JOHN SPELLMAN, Evergreen reporter

March 7, 2019

In a city that is known for gambling, women’s basketball put all of their chips on the table as they took on Cal in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the No. 10 seed Cougars (9-21, 4-15) fell short and lost 77-58 to the No. 7 seed Golden Bears (19-11,...

WSU falls to Oregon in Beasley Coliseum

ISAAC SEMMLER, Evergreen reporter

March 7, 2019

WSU men’s basketball dropped their fourth straight game Wednesday night when they fell to Oregon 72-61. Head Coach Ernie Kent wasn’t thrilled about the performance of his team tonight. “As a team we didn’t play really well,” Kent said. “We had too many breakdowns and it cost us. When...